The present invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus for installing elevator doors and, in particular, to a method and an apparatus for installing pre-assembled elevator shaft door assemblies.
The European Patent Application No. 0 475 074 describes an appropriate method for the pre-assembly of finished shaft door assemblies. Frame-shaped gauges, between which plumb wires are tensioned, are inserted at the bottom and the top of an elevator shaft. Mountings with adjusting elements in three planes are attached on the floor thresholds, whereby an orientation to the plumb wires is made possible. The shaft door assemblies are pre-assembled with all frontal elements to exact dimensions. The installation of a shaft door assembly takes place by lifting the assembly in the shaft and setting it down onto an additional mounting in the lowermost floor or suspending at an additional mounting in the uppermost floor. The installed position is determined by means of register holes and register pins. It appears that the shaft door assemblies are suspended one set onto or against the other, since their heights correspond to the floor spacing distance.
In this method, exact dimensions of the installation opening are required, because the door assemblies are installed together with the frontal cladding elements, thus with the finishing pieces. Therefore, problems with construction tolerances are possible. Furthermore, additional gauge frames must be installed in the shaft for the plumb lines. The mountings on the floors are not provided as carriers for the shaft doors. Additional carriers mounted in the lowermost or uppermost floor take over the carrying function for the shaft door assemblies. Details of the fastening of the shaft door assemblies on the floors are not illustrated and described. No devices are disclosed for protecting the shaft door opening against accidents.